2018 All-Great Midwest Softball Release
The Hillsdale College softball team produced the G-MAC leaders in both batting average and strikeouts during the 2018 regular season. And while neither one won an individual award Wednesday night, both of those players were recognized as among the conference's best.
Junior outfielder Katie Kish and freshman pitcher Erin Hunt were each named First-Team All-Conference during the postseason awards banquet Wednesday night in Xenia, Ohio. The awards were presented on the eve of the start of the 2018 G-MAC Softball Tournament. Junior infielder Jessica Taylor, enjoying a breakout season for the Chargers, was named honorable mention All-Conference.
Kish led the G-MAC with a .491 batting average, a number that's 16 points better than any other hitter in the league. She produced 55 hits in 34 games. That batting average number currently stands as the second-best in school history. She had at least one base hit in 29 of the team's 34 games through the regular season, and her multi-hit games (21) more than quadrupled her hitless games (5).
Hunt stepped into the pitcher's circle and showed dominant skills from the very start of her collegiate career. She finished the regular season as the conference co-leader in wins (15) and its leader in earned run average (1.91) and strikeouts (142). Her win total ties her for fourth in school history in a single season and her 142 strikeouts are fourth-most in a season in school history.
Taylor has hits in nine of her last 10 games and is batting .398 entering the postseason, ranking seventh in the conference. She has 11 multi-hit games, including eight in G-MAC competition.
Hillsdale opens the G-MAC Tournament at 10 a.m. Thursday against Trevecca Nazarene in Xenia.